Hybrid Wheat

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

Hybrid breeding techniques have revolutionized the corn industry, but they have not really caught on in wheat. However, Jeff Koscelny at Westbred, which is part of Bayer Crop Science, sees potential in the future with modern breeding techniques.

Koscelny… “One of the things we're excited about and we've been more public about is our hybrid breeding program. As Bayer we look at that as a key innovation for the future. Obviously, hybrids have been around for a while. They've been in and out of the market, and we feel like there's been enough advances in the science and our technologies and our scientists that we can finally figure that puzzle out and bring that next paradigm. And I think about hybrid, look at what it's done for the corn, and other crops, and wheat desperately needs that innovation. I think what we'll see is that upper yield potential, but we'll also see that vigor in the plants, more sturdy plants, which makes us more sustainable: more pounds or more bushels per acre. And then, the pieces around just stability and how reliable a hybrid can be. And there's potential, as you get that more vigorous plant, how do we start to reduce our sowing rates or seeding rates, to be more sustainable in that way? Fewer pounds per acre, but still producing high yields.”

Learn more at their website: www.Westbred.com.